BANFF — As populist movements in western countries seek greater protectionism and resist immigration, an Oxford University professor argues immigrant workers are needed more than ever to fill gaps from declining birthrates and aging populations.

Ian Goldin, a former World Bank vice-president who now teaches about globalization, said during a business conference here that western nations could accommodate much higher levels of immigration but that they need to deal with negative perceptions.

Goldin later told reporters cities with high concentrations of foreigners, including Vancouver and Toronto, have strong economies with contented residents, citing top scores on happiness index surveys.

“There is no evidence that towns with higher shares of immigrants do worse off,” he said at the Global Business Forum, a conference featuring talks from executives, academics and government leaders on emerging trends. “In fact they are better off and I think we’re not good at communicating that.”

Protectionism on immigration and trade has been a central plank of Donald Trump’s election campaign for the White House. In Britain, politicians are wrangling over the path to leave the European Union after a referendum in which protectionism played a major role.

Restrictions on immigration are expected to be a central theme in the Brexit negotiations.

At the same time, fewer babies and aging workers are expecting to put major strains on labour markets around the world. The workforce in OECD countries is expected to decline from 800 million to about 630 million over the next 34 years, which Goldin said underscores the demand for more immigrant workers.

Perrin Beatty, president and chief executive of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said immigration remains an important component of efforts to fill labour gaps, along with retraining, education and integrating more indigenous people into the workforce.

“Immigration is one of those tools that allow us to deal with the demographic time bomb that we’re sitting on today with an aging population and growing needs within the workforce,” Beatty said in an interview.

Goldin said Canada has been a standard bearer for progressive policies welcoming both immigrants and refugees, “but this needs to be sustained.”

On the refugee front, Canada has taken in more than 30,000 Syrians since November 2015 after three-year-old Alan Kurdi’s lifeless body washed up on a Turkish beach and became a poster child of the migrant crisis.

But the influx of refugees into Europe triggered considerable public resistance, helping to shift governments to the right and looming large in the Brexit vote, said Alexander Betts, director of the refugees studies centre at the University of Oxford.

“We’ve really had a year where Europe was engaged in a massive u-turn from Angela Merkel’s … ‘We will cope’ speech a year ago where she said, ‘We can take 800,000 refugees into Germany in a year, and we will manage,” Betts said in an interview after his talk at the business forum.

“Europe has come full circle and it has slightly rejected that position and it’s moved to create a deal with Turkey to close the Aegean Sea, shut the Balkan route into Europe and effectively warehouse millions of Syrians in Turkey so they don’t come across the border.”

Betts praised Canada’s resettlement program for Syrians, noting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was elected on a pro-refugee platform “which at the moment is almost unprecedented.”

Still, there have been cracks.

A survey conducted in February found barely half of those polled supported Trudeau’s resettlement plan, with 44 per cent opposed. A Calgary school was spray-painted with the threatening words “Syrians go home and die.” Among other incidents, several refugees were pepper sprayed in Vancouver.

“There’s no society in which there would be no opposition to reaching out and allowing people to make a new home,” Beatty said. “A key Canadian value of this country has been welcoming since before it was founded.”

Andre Wegner, CEO of Authentise of Palo Alto, California, addresses the Global Business Forum on Labour and Technology, Friday September 30, 2016 at the Banff Springs Hotel. Ted Rhodes/Postmedia

Nelson Narisco Filho, right, of Brazil, and David Hobbs of Saudi Arabia, take part in a discussion comparing their countries in the Nations in Transition panel Friday September 30, 2016 at the Banff Springs Hotel.Ted Rhodes/Postmedia

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, professor of Global Health at the University of Toronto, addresses the Global Business Forum on Battling the Disease of Hate and Violence Friday September 30, 2016 at the Banff Springs Hotel. Ted Rhodes/Postmedia

Michael Chui of the McKinsey Global Institute in San Francisco addresses the Global Business Forum on Labour and Technology, Friday September 30, 2016 at the Banff Springs Hotel. Ted Rhodes/Postmedia

Dr. John Wood of Hawaii, the Pacific Command's Director for Pacific Outreach, addresses the Global Business Forum on the Shifting Security Environment Thursday September 29, 2016 at the Banff Springs Hotel. Ted Rhodes/Postmedia

Dr. Lutz Goedde of McKinsey and Company in Denver addresses the Global Business Forum on Food or Famine Friday September 30, 2016 at the Banff Springs Hotel. Ted Rhodes/Postmedia

Vice Admiral Ron Lloyd, Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, addresses the Global Business Forum on the Shifting Security Environment Thursday September 29, 2016 at the Banff Springs Hotel.Ted Rhodes/Postmedia

Duncan Stewart, director of Technology, Media and Telecommunications at Deloitte Canada, gives a keynote address on the Top Ten Trends in Technology and Media to the Global Business Forum on Labour and Technology, Friday September 30, 2016 at the Banff Springs Hotel. Ted Rhodes/Postmedia

Oxford University professor Ian Goldin uses a backdrop of Donal Trump at one point is his keynote address Navigating Risks and Rewards in the Age of Discovery Friday September 29, 2016 at the Global Business Forum at the Banff Springs Hotel. Ted Rhodes/Postmedia

Panelist and olympic gold medalist Hayley Wickenheiser listens during The Future of Sports panel at Global Business Forum Friday September 30, 2016 at the Banff Springs Hotel. Ted Rhodes/Postmedia

Dick Pound, an IOC member, listens during The Future of Sports panel at Global Business Forum Friday September 30, 2016 at the Banff Springs Hotel. Ted Rhodes/Postmedia

Oxford University professor Alexander Betts speaks on the global refugee crisis during his Global Migration address to the Global Business Forum Thursday September 29, 2016 at the Banff Springs Hotel. Ted Rhodes/Postmedia

Shell Canada president Michael Crothers speaks to the Global Business Forum in a panel on Energy's Future Friday September 30, 2016 at the Banff Springs Hotel. Ted Rhodes/Postmedia

Hal Kvisle, co-chair of the 2016 Global Business Forum, listens to speakers in the Energy's Future panel Friday September 30, 2016 at the Banff Springs Hotel. Ted Rhodes/Yuen Pao Woo

Rich Kruger, CEO of Imperial Oil addresses the Global Business Forum in a panel on Energy's Future Friday September 30, 2016 at the Banff Springs Hotel.Ted Rhodes/Yuen Pao Woo

Michael Steinbach, of the National Security Branch of the FBI in Washington addresses the Global Business Forum on Threat Vectors and the Challenges Facing Western Leadership Friday September 30, 2016 at the Banff Springs Hotel.Ted Rhodes/Yuen Pao Woo

Yuen Pao Woo of the Business Council of BC, right, and Li Aihua of the Bank of China in Canada during the One Belt One Road Global Business Forum Friday September 30, 2016 at the Banff Springs Hotel. Ted Rhodes/Postmedia

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